What Does Yes Mean?
by FredNeverDied
Summary: "What does 'yes' mean, Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked, glaring at him. "What does 'yes' mean?" James asked her incredulously, "it means this is the best moment of my life and you're messing it up!" How James finally got Lily to go out with him. Includes the Marauders (of course). Rated T for language.
1. Late to Class

**A/N**: Alright, so here's your story guide: when James is writing, the font is italicsed, Sirius and Lily are plain, Remus and Janie Ferguson are bolded and Pettigrew is underlined. The communication parchments, you'll see what I mean, momentarily are kinda like personal chatrooms. I think that the kids at Hogwarts would have come up with these at some point over the course of history.

**Disclaimer**: All characters from the wonderful world of Harry Potter belong to the great J.K Rowling, not me. If they did—I'd be rich.

**What Does 'Yes' Mean?**

James Potter hurried into Transfiguration class and took the last available seat. His best friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, sitting in a clump in the front corner of the room (right out of range of Professor McGonagall's peripheral vision, of course) collectively shot him a questioning look but he shook his head at them.

"Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked immediately, "Your excuse?"

"_Filch_," James mumbled. A collective mutter swept the room at the mention of the hated man, earning James a few sympathetic looks from the class. McGonagall nodded.

"I see," she said, "and I trust that I can verify this with _Mr_. Argus Filch."

Out of the corner of his eye, James saw Sirius mouth the word '_Argu_s' and make kissy faces at McGonagall's back. James managed to hide his smile and tried to discreetly shake his head at Sirius before the class saw it and pointed it out, particularly Lily Evan's friends sitting in the back row.

After three years of constant practice, James could pinpoint her location in a classroom and follow her subconsciously whenever they were in a room together. Despite the fact that he'd been trying to bury his feelings for her for their entire sixth year so far, he'd still managed to memorize her schedule the first week of school and every time she would reenter class from using the restroom he relaxed despite himself.

McGonagall, after giving the class a short lecture on the use of proper, respectful titles of Hogwarts faculty, gave a parting stern look at James, left his desk, returned to her perch at the front of the classroom, and resumed the third day of their four-part study of Animagi. Sirius turned around and smirked at James over his shoulder and James allowed himself a small smile. The two of them, and Peter, had been illegal Animagi for over a year and a half now. However, from where he was sitting, dead center, directly in front of McGonagall, he couldn't exactly talk to Sirius. Passing notes, however, was not talking.

James delved into his school bag and pulled out a notebook, a fresh quill, an inkpot, and a blank, rumpled sheet of parchment.

"White Prongs," he whispered, tapping the parchment with his wand. A ripple of ink spread across the parchment from where he'd touched it. He dipped his quill in the inkpot and, with a final glance at McGonagall, wrote the words 'Blue Padfoot' on the parchment and again tapped it with his wand. James watched as Sirius glanced back at him and then bent over his own piece of parchment.

'So what'd you do to _Argus?'_ appeared on the parchment in Sirius' sloppy handwriting. James grinned and began scribbling his response:

'_Nothing, Mrs. Norris however…_' Sirius barked a laugh out loud, earning him a quelling look from Professor McGonagall.

'So what did you do?' Sirius wrote after a moment.

'_Paralyzed her and began stuffing her into a knight's helm_et.'

'What! And you're still alive?'

'_Heard Filch coming just before he showed up and started taking her out, I managed to convince him I'd found her that way_.'

'He bought that?'

'_Yeah, I don't know, maybe they've busted somebody recently and he believed that somebody else would do it._'

'Still, he'd love to have an excuse to keep you in detention till school gets out!'

**'Yeah James**.' This newest remark was in the careful block lettering that James recognized from Remus.

'_Prefect Lupin not taking notes, hm_?'

**'If you'll care to remember, Mr. Potter, I helped the three of you become Animagi; I don't ****_need_**** to take notes**.'

'_Touché, where's Peter_?'

'Looking over my shoulder.' James glanced up. Indeed the trio was hunched over their notes at their desks, apparently absorbed in their studies. But as he watched, Peter took the sheet from Sirius and began to write something. James smiled and shook his head. Wormtail had probably lost his own parchment somewhere around the castle.

In the past two years, the parchments had become a necessity if you wanted to stay connected at Hogwarts. Every student had their own piece. If they used their password, they activated their sheet. If you knew a friend's password, then you could send messages to them no matter where you were on campus. James and his friends all used their nicknames. The names being common knowledge around school, they'd decided to each tag a random color on to the beginnings. So maybe it made the nicknames sound stupid, but no one had managed to figure it out yet. So far, the teachers hadn't discovered the trick, but the students knew it was, regrettably, only a matter of time.

'So how'd you get out of the death sentence with Filch?' (This was Wormtail now.) James grinned.

'_A few well-placed words, some chocolates, and an exclusive flash of my pretty smile_.' Sirius snorted out loud from his desk at James' response.

"Mr. Black!" McGonagall's interrupted suddenly.

_Oof, busted._


	2. Encouragement to Eavesdrop

_**A/N**__: Hey there. I've gone back and I'm splitting up my 8,000+ word "one-shot" into five chapters, which I will be releasing at intervals. Minor changes if any; it's mostly just the same as it was when I published it so keep in mind this was my first fanfic._

**What Does 'Yes' Mean?**

_"Mr. Black!" McGonagall's interrupted suddenly._

_Oof, busted._

Sirius visibly shrunk in his seat.

"Yes ma'am?"

"Would you mind telling me the fourth step of collecting some of your Patronus' tangible form and adding that to the Animagisti Potion?" From the semi-triumphant look on her face, James knew she thought Sirius would fail to answer the questions and be wiping her boards, magic-free, after class. Sirius, however, sat up straight in his chair and rattled off the facts without blinking an eye.

"You and your Patronus must make a physical contact. In that moment, you use the Patronessa Charm. Once the Patronessa is invoked, you grab hold of the Patronus and take something from it, usually fur, before your Patronus returns to its solid form." Sirius grinned at the woman but she wasn't finished yet.

"I see," said McGonagall, "but aren't Patroni made up of light and memory?" It was a trick question and James hoped Sirius would see though it. His friend had needed help at this stage…

"An excellent question!" Sirius said, wagging his finger at her in a perfect imitation of Horace Slughorn, the Potions Master. McGonagall's lips formed a very hard line. James rolled his eyes; Sirius put his toe over the line just a little further every time.

"The Patronus is in its solid form because it has been called upon using the Bonubus Nocenes spell. At the same time, while using the Bonubus Nocenes, or the _Bonoces_ as some people call it, the future Animagi has to think of a good memory and a bad memory at the same time, both with equal levels of emotion and strength. It is mentally taxing on the person and has been known to leave very capable witches and wizards in an unstable state for years afterwards. This has to be done so that the Patronus has two conflicting emotions making it both solid and light at the same time…"

James glanced at Peter. Even this mentioning of the _Bonoces_ had brought up the painful memories of becoming an Animagi for him and he was nervously plucking at the sides of his robes. It was during this part of the process that Peter had nearly failed, and the Marauders often fretted that they had, indeed, gone a little too far in his case. Sirius often joked that Peter had "gone off the deep end" but Remus and James agreed that their friend hadn't been quite himself since becoming able to turn into a rat.

Sirius finished his speech on the _Bonoces_ and sat back in his chair with a cocky smile on his face. If Professor McGonagall was surprised, which she probably was, she didn't show it.

"Thank you, Mr. Black," she said stiffly, and then turned back around to her chalkboard. Sirius, while the woman's back was turned, whipped around in his seat and flashed James a comic thumbs-up. The snickers from the class brought McGonagall back to the front and soon the Marauders had returned to their note-passing.

'_Nice one, Padfoot_.' James wrote.

'Thanks, but Filch really let you off just because of some old chocolates?"

'Don't forget his pretty smile.' (Wormtail again.)

'_Nah, I let him "catch" me about a week ago giving Mrs. Norris some cat treats…when she didn't blow up, he thanked me and said I wasn't such a bad sort after all_.'

'Butt lick...You're buddying up with Filch?'

'_You see me here in one piece_...'

There was a pause in the conversation and James was about to bring up a random piece of gossip to pass the time (he'd caught Abigail Davies, a third year, and Jonathon Stuart, a fifth, snogging in the hallway after third period,) when Sirius jumped in his seat and began scribbling furiously.

'Can't believe I almost forgot! I overheard Sarah Thomas and Janie Ferguson at lunch; they said that Evans' parchment password is 'June Bug'!'

'_What_!'

'Yeah, Ferguson wanted to be able to write Evans during fifth period, and Thomas gave her the password.'

James froze. Evans' password. Sirius knew _Lily Evans_' password? He wanted so badly to try it, to write her, start passing notes with her…maybe he would say something she thought was funny, and she'd laugh, and then write something funny back, and then they would start a whole conversation, and then they could carry that conversation on to their next class, and then they could start talking during the Common Room, and then maybe…James shook his head.

'No,' he thought, 'we're done with that.'

'_Sorry Padfoot_,' he wrote, '_but I'm over he_r.'

**'My ****_ass_****, you're over her, James. You can't fool us**!'

'_She hates me, she _should_ hate me_.' James wrote back. He knew it sounded like a child, but at the moment, he really didn't care.

**'You haven't been obnoxious to her all year, and you two ****_have_**** talked recently**.' (This was Remus of course, the ever-present voice of reason.)

'_Yeah, but always in a civil, polite, _aloof_ sort of way; not the kind where you can have a whole private conversation!_'

'Just try it!'

'_No! Pete-help me out_!'

'Sorry, I'm with them…I've actually seen her _staring at_ you in the Common Room.'

(Obviously Wormtail thought this was the ultimate sign of affection. James shook his head. Wormtail had the mind of an eight-year-old when it came to the fairer sex. James and Sirius often wondered if he still believed in cooties. They had long since given up on trying to make him see things in any other way and had fallen into the habit of patronizing him every time females became the subject of a conversation. Unfortunately, that happened a lot. Either way, James highly doubted that Lily Evans could be seen "staring at him" in the Common Room.)

'_That's a lie,_' he wrote.

'No it isn't, I swear!'

'_Well then, I wonder what she was thinking, "Gee, look at _that_ dickhead_!"?'

'Just do it Prongs!' Sirius had tired of James and Lily long ago and usually wasn't this excited when a new "development" was on the horizon. James hesitated...there had to be a catch.

'_Padfoot,' _he wrote_, 'you're not just trying to manufacture another awkward moment with me and your psychotic cousin again…_'

'Ha ha, no, Bellatrix said she'd use an Unforgivable on me if I tried something like that again and I don't want to find out whether or not she meant it.'

**'Besides, these don't even reach off of school grounds**.'

James glanced back at Lily. She was writing notes about the lesson…or was she? As James watched, Lily stared at her sheet and, after a moment, laughed and scribbled something else down. Every time she laughed or smiled she wrinkled her nose. Some people could think it was an unattractive look, but he loved it; her entire face lit up when she smiled. Everything about her was perfect: the way she spat her hair out of her mouth because she was always far too busy to use her hands; the childish way she half-jumped, half-stumbled down the steps of the Great Hall; the way she would run off to the Owlery every time it stormed so she could see the lightening displays from all sides; the way she was constantly singing under her breath, he'd caught snatches of songs that were in different languages (she knew songs in _different languages_, how cool was that!?); and how at the first of the year she would hold the hands of the homesick firsties until they had adjusted to school…

As he watched, she giggled again, her perfect emerald eyes laughing and twinkling. He really wanted to be in that conversation…

'_Fine, what's her password again_?' The trio in the corner could barely contain their laughs as they slapped each other high-fives under their desks.

''June Bug', it's her birthday month, I think,' wrote Sirius. (James _knew_ it was her birthday month, June 14th to be exact…)

'_Alright, I'm doing it_,' he wrote, '_wish me luck_.'

"_Clarium Inikius_," he whispered, deleting the conversation with the Marauders in order to have more room to write. The ink was instantly absorbed back into the parchment.

James took a deep breath and carefully wrote the words 'June Bug' with his quill, tapped the paper, and waited. A moment passed and then the page blossomed into words. His heart leapt into his throat as he recognized Lily's handwriting.

'…isn't so bad! The poor guy is at least fifty and doesn't have any family left!'

**'If he wasn't so weird then he'd probably have a wife and kids and grandchildren not too far away**!'

'Well you can call him weird and let it bother you or call him eccentric and look forward to his classes.'

**'You don't actually ****_enjoy _****Divination!?**'

'Yeah...I'm always curious about what he's going to do next! '

**'He's **_**insane**_** Lily! Professor Toppins is literally crazy! You said yourself you wish you weren't taking Divination**!'

'That has nothing to do with the teacher; it's just that being an Auror doesn't require Divination.'

**'Look Lily, I don't know what to tell you, but…****_prof_**!' The other person's handwriting promptly disappeared and James guessed that "prof" had to stand for Professor. The Marauders would always draw a big X at the end of their sentence if a teacher was coming and they had to sign out in a hurry.

But an Auror, huh? Lily Evans wanted to be an Auror. James could help but wonder if this had anything to do with the fact that Severus Snape was hanging out more and more with the wrong people and getting closer and closer to becoming a Death Eater. James stared at the parchment but no one else was talking to Lily, she must have been having the conversation with only Janie Ferguson.

His heart beating in his mouth, James dipped his quill in ink and touched it to the paper, only to jerk it away immediately. He glanced behind himself like the nervous wreck he was and saw Lily blink in confusion at the sudden splotch of ink on her parchment.

'Hello?' appeared on his paper in her beautiful handwriting.

'Damn you, James Potter!' He thought, 'You've never had a problem talking to her before!'

Again he dipped his quill in the ink jar, took a deep breath, and wrote, simply:

'_Hey_.'

a/n: before somebody points it out, i am aware that lily's birthday is not in june 14th, it is january 3Oth, 196O.


	3. Cursive Critics

This chapter is dedicated to To the TARDIS, a really cool person who reviewed and we started PMing.

**What Does 'Yes' Mean?**

Unable to control himself, he glanced back at her again, his heart stopping as she bent over her desk and began to write back an answer—he could have sworn he could hear her quill scratching.

'Hey...who is this?' she wrote. And, of course, he panicked. She still hated him, didn't she? Hadn't been a total prick to her for the past six years? If he wrote _'James_,' she was sure put away her parchment, or at least tell him to leave her alone. Hell, he could easily see her hurling her ink jar at the back of his head for invading her privacy this way. Maybe he just shouldn't say anything, leave her hanging. But then the others, the Marauders in the corner, would never let him live it down and, honestly, what did he have to lose? He looked back at the parchment paper and scratched out the first stupid thing that came to his mind.

'_Please don't throw your ink jar at my head.'_

'Is this James?' He felt the blood run out of his face. Was it that easy to guess? He glanced back at her; he couldn't help it, and saw her watching him with her lips pursed. She wasn't mad? _Good heavens!_ No, she wasn't! Annoyed, maybe; exasperated, maybe; but not angry. She'd even said James instead of Potter! Unable to think of anything else, he drew a smiley face and gave it a tongue to try to convey something of bashfulness.

(Despite Sirius picking at him for doodling all over his notebook, "like a little firstie Hufflepuff," James had always drawn on his homework, getting him into trouble with some of the teachers for not, "staying professional". Despite both forces, he'd become, at least in his own opinion, a pretty decent artist. The whimsical little face on the parchment looked pretty good at least.)

'How did you get my password?' she wrote.

'_I overheard it somewhere; I just want to talk to you_.'

'You're not going to say anything stupid?'

_'I never _plan_ on saying anything stupid!'_

'Oh I see...it just comes out that way.'

He grinned; _this_ was more than he'd dared hope for.

'_You wrote the J in my name wrong_,' he wrote, trying for banter. He added a little face beside the comment with two dots for eyes and zigzag line for a mouth.

'Oh? Enlighten me.'

'_According to the 'Standard Cursive Year 2 Workbook' it should be like this.' _He signed his name in the big loopy handwriting.

'My deepest and humblest apologies. Since when were you a cursive expert?'

'_I took four years of Muggle school before Hogwarts_.'

'Really?'

'_Yeah, my parents said they wanted me to be ahead by the time I got to Hogwarts, I think they just wanted to get me out of the house_.' From his desk, James heard Lily snort out loud. Other people could say she sounded ridiculous, but he thought it was the best kind of laugh; there were no apologies, no fake little titters; but real laughter right there.

'I'm sure it had nothing to do with that and they just wanted to make you into the best cursive critic you could be.'

'_You're very sweet_.' James drew a sly, winking face next to the sentence, and instantly regretted it. He remembered Remus telling him he hadn't been obnoxious all year and realized he'd just blown that.

'_Sorry_,' he wrote quickly, '_I didn't mean to be rude or anything_.'

'You're apologizing? For a doodle?'

'_Well…yeah_.'

'What have you done with James Potter!?'

James smiled ruefully.

'_Fixed him, I hope_.'

James waited but Lily didn't respond. He turned around and found himself looking dead into her eyes. She was watching him with a strange look on her face, but it sent a new sort of thrill through his whole body.

"What?" he mouthed. She began to say something back but just pointed to her parchment. He glanced back at his own and waited for her to write a note and send it to him with a tap of her wand.

'You _have_ changed, haven't you?' It was probably the last thing he had expected her to write, but there it was.

'_Yeah_,' he wrote back.

'Why?'

James thought about it and decided to be honest.

'_I s'pose I was tired of being a prick about everything_.' The expected laugh did not come. James waited.

'Not about _everything_,' she wrote. James laughed, and earned himself a good glare from Professor McGonagall. He hunched back over the notes.

'No, I'm serious.' she wrote

'_Really? Why'd you hate me so much, then_?'

'I never _hated_ you!'

'_You _are_ kidding, right_?'

'No, you were annoying, arrogant, and exasperating, but I never _hated_ you!'

'_Gee, thanks_.' When Lily didn't respond, James glanced back at her but she was lost in thought, her brow furrowed, and her quick eyes darting back and forth as if she were trying to figure out a homework question.

'_Lily_?' James wrote after a moment.

'Damn you James Potter!' was the reply. James closed his eyes. _Now_ what had he done?

'_I beg your pardon?_' he wrote.

'_Right when I think I have you figured out, you go and completely change_!' James sighed with relief. All was not, yet, lost.

'_Is that a good thing_?'

'Yeah.'

'_So what does that mean_?' James' mouth had gone completely dry. He hoped that she would understand the hidden meaning to that. "What does that mean…_for us_?" Allies? Friends? A slight, possible, teeny-tiny, super-slim, itsy-bitsy chance at something _more_? He waited, seemingly for an entire eternity, before the response came in.

**A/N:** ...I love leaving you in suspense. ;) Two more chapters left!


	4. What Does Yes Mean?

**What Does 'Yes' Mean**

_He waited, seemingly for an entire eternity, before the blessed response came in._

'It means I like you.'

Time stopped. In fact, for James, sound stopped, touch stopped, smell stopped, and sight stopped; except of course, for those five little words. Five little words that made him feel like he was about to explode.

"You're dreaming James," he thought, and quickly pinched his arm. Nope. That hurt. Which meant that…His jaw dropped open like a codfish.

Lily giggled at the figure he was striking. The laugh, like magic, shocked James back to reality. Gradually he regained the feeling of his limbs and briefly wondered if his heart had stopped beating. He decided that it more than likely had.

'_You're killing me, you know_!' he wrote

Lily's only reply was the sly, winking face. James waited for more but when the details seemed reserved he decided he had to prompt her.

'_How_?'

'What do you mean "how"?'

'_You like me…_how?'

'James, you're not about to ask me out on a date, are you?' James turned around to look at Lily. She was smiling cheekily at him and he felt his heart skip a beat.

"Mr. Potter?…_Mr. Potter_!" James realized McGonagall was talking to him. He'd completely forgotten she was there.

"Yes ma'am?"

"I would appreciate it if you were paying more attention in class and not trying to distract the other students. This _will_ be on the exams."

"Yes ma'am." James waited a moment for appearances' sake and then returned all attention to his "notes".

'_Am I going to ask you out? It depends…HOW_!'

'Don't you want to know?' Now she was playing with him! Did she know that his heart was going to give out in a second!?

'_LILY_!'

The only response was another little smiley face.

'_You're going to give me a heart attack!_'

'Well, I suppose I don't want that…'

'_So your answer is_…?' He turned around to look at her, unable to wait any longer, maybe the helpless, pleading look in his eyes would convince her that she had to give him a straight answer, because if she toyed with him again he was certain his poor heart would fail.

"James Potter! May I see what you're writing?"

James' head snapped up. Professor McGonagall was swishing her way towards him, the look in her eyes showing she knew the notes he was scribbling in his lap weren't related to her class.

"_Clarium Inikius_," he whispered, clearing the parchment of all the notes he and Lily had been writing.

McGonagall grabbed the sheet just as the last words were disappearing.

"Yes?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at James.

"Huh?" he responded stupidly, as she handed him back the sheet. Written in Lily's beautiful handwriting was one simple word: 'Yes'. His jaw dropped.

Three years. That was how long he'd been asking her for and now there it was, the coveted, dreamed of, given up, and finally achieved, 'yes'. It was a moment before he heard McGonagall speaking again.

"What does 'yes' mean, Potter?...Other than '_yes_, you aren't taking notes and you're going to fail on my exams?'"

"What does 'yes' mean?" James asked her, incredulous, "It means that this is the happiest moment of my life and _you're messing it up!_"

The class exploded into laughter. James had been completely serious but he realized that maybe he'd gone a bit far. McGonagall, who normally was impassive to everything students would say, was certainly shocked. Students never crossed her on purpose, and certainly never tried to embarrass her in front of a class. Luckily for her, however, she recovered quickly.

"Mr. Potter, you will see me after class, do you understand?" James, who had by this point realized his mistake, nodded, going for humility.

"Yes ma'am."

"I will not be mocked in front of the other students."

"Yes ma'am."

"You will…" But at that moment, the bell rang and all the students leapt out of their seats.


	5. Victory Comes to Those Who Wait

_A/N: Thoughts and prayers go to the people in Boston and West, TX. We're praying for you guys. God bless.  
__On a bit lighter note: this is the last one guys. Thanks for all the feedback an support, be sure to check out some of my other stories._

**What Does 'Yes' Mean?**

_"You will…" But at that moment, the bell rang and all the students leapt out of their seats. _

The castle was alive with the noise of scraping chairs and conversations being picked back up. The Transfiguration class erupted as sixteen-year-olds beelined for the door. James sat where he was. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lily waiting by the doorway with an amused smile on her face. If he wasn't crazy, (although that _would_ explain the last hour,) then she seemed flattered that he was getting in trouble for her. James shook his head at her, trying to signal for her not to wait around. His attempted discreetness failed, however.

"Ms. Evans?" McGonagall asked, spotting the girl hovering by the door as she so often would. She clearly thought Lily had a question about the lesson. James shook his head at her.

"I…"she faltered, seeing James' look, "I…ah…how do you make contact with your…um…er..." Lily trailed off, looking at James helplessly. He had to admit, though, it did make her look pretty cute. And she _was_ looking to _him_ for help…

"Patronus?" McGonagall offered in a steely voice. She knew something was up and if Lily didn't hurry up with the question, two and two would be put together, and they'd both be in trouble.

"Yes, Patronus!" Lily said. She obviously was starting to regret this. But James saw his opening and piped up.

"Well," he began, "it really all has to do with the _Bonoces_…"

"Mr. Potter!" said McGonagall, "need I remind you that…"

"Yes, yes, I know it's the _Bonoces_," Lily interrupted, "but how come thinking of a bad memory is able to help you call up the Patronus?"

"Well, that's what the _Bonoces_ does," James said, standing, "it combines two conflicting sides and translates the confliction into the Patronus. The Patronus is not completely solid, nor completely made up of light and memory. It's only solid enough for you to take a bit of it away. That's also why you have to make the Animagisti so quickly, so that you're Patronus material doesn't disappear."

"Okay," Lily said, walking up to him so that they were a foot apart. McGonagall had simply backed up to let James answer the question for her. (Damn boy paid no attention in her class and _still_ knew everything!) James, for his part, was feeling lightheaded at being this close to Lily.

"…does it hurt the poor thing?" she was saying. James had to remind himself that he was having a conversation and not just staring at her.

"No," he said, "they aren't quite real enough to feel. And the next time you use the Patronus, its fine. Typically all you need is a bit of fur or slime or whatever."

Lily pulled a book out of her bag.

"Where does it talk about that?" she asked, waving her hand over the pages referring to Animagi.

"In Advanced Transfigurations for the Foolhardy," he almost said before remembering that he had snuck that book out of the Restricted Section.

"Uh…I don't know," he answered vaguely, "I think I read that in another book somewhere. We checked it to do some studying last weekend. But I think I've got it in my dormitory, you want me to go get it?"

"Yeah, let's go." Lily repacked her stuff and turned for the door, taking his hand—_taking his hand!_—and started walking.

"_Mr. Potter_?"

_So close_… Well, he hadn't actually thought he could just pretend she wasn't there and walk out, had he?

"Oh right," James said turning around to face the professor. To his sheer joy, Lily Evans did not let go of him.

"Do you realize I have not yet dismissed you?" Oh, if only looks could kill…

"Yes ma'am," James said, trying to bow his head without looking like he was mocking her.

"I will not tolerate outbursts in my class…especially when you are trying to distract others and ridicule me in front of the other students."

"I wasn't trying to," James said honestly, "I was just kind of in my own head and then it slipped out."

"You should be paying attention..."

"Yes ma'am. I was out last week after the accident in the Quidditch match…" (James hoped that bringing up his rib injury in the line of duty for Gryffindor Quidditch would no go unnoticed by fanatic Minerva McGonagall.)

"I know all about that."

"Yes ma'am. Well I thought that I'd missed the lessons on Animagi and already studied up on it as I was trying to catch up."

"That gives you no excuse to blow-up in my class."

'We just covered this!' James thought, exasperated.

"I'm sorry," he said again, "I was not thinking…" James brought up his most awkward memory (a very bad incident at the Christmas he'd spent at his aunt's house) and blushed. As hoped, McGonagall took this as a sign of embarrassed defeat and relented.

"If it happens again…"

James shook his head vehemently.

"No ma'am, it won't."

McGonagall narrowed her eyes. She still thought something was wrong with this. Her eyes went from James' to Lily's face and then found their hands. It was no secret that Lily hated James. She had probably turned him down once a week in all their classes and then some. McGonagall's eyebrows went up. Now _this_ was unexpected…

"Well," said the professor, now covering, "I'll let you go with a warning…"

"Oh thank you," James said, bobbing his head like an idiot. Lily had to contain another giggle before it slipped out. He grabbed his schoolbag and started turning for the door, Lily's fingers still tangled in his own. They reached the opened door, walked out, and started down the passage.

Five minutes later, James still was only aware that Lily was holding his hand—willingly—and walking with him. She wasn't saying anything, but she didn't need to. James grinned and let the silence go unbroken.

It was only once they reached a fork in the hallways and James began to turn left—he had Runes to go to next—that she spoke.

"Um…James?"

"Yeah?" he asked, turning to look at her.

"I have to go to Divination," she said, glancing over her shoulder at the opposite hallway.

"Oh," he said stupidly.

"So...I'll see you back at the Common Room."

Lily smiled at him a bit nervously and rose up to her tiptoes. She pecked his cheek and dashed off down the hallway without saying another word, leaving James rooted to the spot in the corridor. It was a full two minutes before he remembered that he was now very late to Runes.

He got in trouble with Professor Grimes for being tardy and took a seat in the back of the class.

He didn't hear one word of the lesson. His life had just flipped upside down and he was expected to pay attention in _Runes_? Lily Evans was going out with him. They were going to go on a date and he would make to _sure_ to schedule another afterwards, followed by another, and another, and another…

One thing was certain, he was _not_ letting her get away from him...

**A/N:** So what did you think? This is the first thing I've ever let anyone other than my English teacher or my mother read so reviews are so very welcome.

-Freddie


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